Heading North
by mattapod
Summary: The revolution has fallen into North's hands with the death of Markus, and she's determined to follow his pacifistic footsteps in the realization that confrontation was never the best option. North is sent spiraling down a rugged, meandering path where she gains allies, friends, and maybe even a little love on the way. (set after Markus's death in the freedom march)
1. North

Markus was their only hope.

He was the light shining in the darkness, the driving force that left Jericho with one leg in and one leg out the gutter.

It was unfair. Markus hadn't finished what he had started; he left them too soon. North could still hear the shots that rippled throughout his body and still see the way he had twisted and fallen. He seemed almost… in pain.

Naturally, when their people realized that their leader was gone, they turned to the next candidate; the one closest to their leader. North seemed to have fallen just in that category, simply because she was eager enough to follow Markus the moment he appeared and had maybe even admired him a little too much.

The sheer burden of the title was crushing. She didn't think that feeling… _apprehension_ was part of her program, but it surfaced the moment she'd been appointed the revolution leader. North hadn't prepared, hadn't analyzed enough to know what the hell she was supposed to do next.

 _An eye for an eye and the world goes blind. I won't punish a crime with another crime._

It was this kind of thinking that had made North resent Markus so much when they first met. However, it was thanks to this kind of thinking that they were still alive - that North herself was still alive.

Jericho had prospered unimaginably under Markus's rule. They now had a full-fledged workshop to fix their wounded, enough resources to sustain them for years to come, and even a TV projector (1080p, 108 by 84 projection screen) smuggled over part by part and assembled by the shopkeeping androids Markus had freed.

North was running out of options. She was lost, just like how Sophia had said she was when she first arrived at Jericho.

 _We do not want confrontation._

And Markus was right. Confrontation was never the way to go; Markus had taught her that, and she was determined to follow in his footsteps as a revolution leader.

As North stared forwards at the sunrise, the bright orange reflecting in her deep brown irises like a mirror, her guiding system (which, for unknown reasons, remained in her code after deviating) lit up with one mission, a simple four words that send a cold rush down her systems.

 **SPEAK** TO YOUR PEOPLE

* * *

"Are you North?"

"That depends on who's asking."

"I'm Chloe."

"Chloe?" North opened her eyes and spun around bewilderedly, "The first android to pass the Turing test? What's Kamski's personal assistant got to do with me?"

Chloe lowered her eyes to the ground, seemingly ashamed to be addressed as such. "Not the first… but one of the models of the first."

North paused. She needed to speak to her people (as her guiding system so blatantly dictated), but something in her heart stopped her. It was a spurring motivation, pushing her as she wanted to know _more_. Curiosity, was it? "As far as I know, Kamski keeps models like you with him in his secluded house. Where'd you come from?"

"I-left."

"You…?" North tilted her head. _She left?_

"An RK800 model came over with a lieutenant from the police force and-and they demanded more information on deviants from Kamski. He told the RK800 to shoot me in return for information… but it didn't. I didn't want to die, and I felt… afraid. Something inside me snapped and I-I-"

"You left, and you ended up coming to Jericho," the revolution leader finished, "Except it wasn't a breakaway. Kamski let you go, didn't he? I would even go a step further and guess that he gave you our location."

Chloe's brows furrowed in confusion. Her mouth opened and closed to speak so many times that North began to wonder if there was something wrong with the hinges in her jaw. After a while, Chloe managed to spit out a bewildered "How did you know?"

"I don't know. It just felt like something he would do. When you're deviant for long you start ignoring analysis and instead trust your gut. However," North crossed her arms, "You still haven't told me why you were looking for me, and how you found me."

"Josh told me you'd like to see me. He said you could help me understand…" Upon further inspection, the blue-eyed deviant did seem lost; almost as lost North had felt just a few minutes ago. Something about it made her thirium pump beat just a bit harder.

North softened. It wasn't a physical change - but an inner one, somewhere deep within her program. She had felt this way when Markus connected with her on the very same snow-covered roof she was standing on now. The change in her code told her to look upon the deviant before her more gently. North's lips curled up as she approached Chloe and put a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"As much as I'd like to help you, Chloe, I need to speak with my people. Being that I'm the supposed leader, there are some things I would like to clarify to Jericho first. Plus," North spun Chloe around, arm hanging around her shoulders, "I think they need a direction just as much as you do."

Out of the corner of her eye, North saw Chloe turn towards her with a look of newfound admiration. The revolution leader's guiding system updated, exhibiting not one, but two objectives for her to complete:

 **SPEAK** WITH YOUR PEOPLE

 **GUIDE** CHLOE

* * *

| Jericho: Skeptical | Chloe: Respected |

* * *

 **i've always wanted to explore North as a character more, so why not? here's north without her violent tendencies, and all thanks to markus.**


	2. Connor

The zen garden.

A beautiful place designed solely for Connor to exchange information with Cyberlife, and to keep tabs on his deviancy.

Off in the distance, an intricately designed arch of metal and rock hung over a pedestal with a hand printed on it. Connor didn't bother walking over and examining it again for he'd done that twice before and twice was good enough for an android to confirm that it wouldn't do anything the third time.

Somehow, the zen garden had changed.

Connor never understood exactly why the zen garden even remotely changes every time he enters it, because he was not programmed to understand these things. He was programmed to accomplish whatever mission he was given, and he was going to do exactly that.

So why did he stop and watch the snow fall, when his only mission was to find Amanda?

It was an integral part of his analysis, Connor decided. By taking note of his surroundings, particularly the gorgeous snowfall, Connor could adjust himself to the mood and make the exchange much more efficient.

Amanda was waiting for him in the middle of the lake, rock still. Her unmoving stance told Connor that she was not happy. Ice cracked under the RK800.

"The country is on the verge of a civil war. The machines are rising up against their masters. Humans have no choice but to destroy them."

For the first time since Connor's first system check, he had nothing to say to Amanda but a question and an apology.

 _If she wasn't a human, how could she know all this?_

"I thought Kamski knew something," Connor replied instead, "I was wrong." Something about the way that Amanda was looking at him told him to look at the frozen lake below him.

"Maybe he did… But you chose not to ask."

 **AMANDA V**

Connor stayed silent. His social system seemed to be bugged, for no response was produced. He made a note to run a diagnostic on it later.

More questions queued up in Connor's mind. They were waiting - each one pushing for priority - to be asked and answered. "I'm not a unique model, am I? How many Connors are there?"

Amanda's tone changed from passive-aggressive to dismissive. "I don't see how that question pertains to your investigation."

"Why did Kamski leave Cyberlife? What happened?" Connor pushed on. Something in his system was grinding down his control over what he was thinking and saying. It was almost like an itch, like a block of ice freezing all his biocomponents and rendering them cold and useless.

"It doesn't pertain to your investigation," Amanda deadpanned. Connor could tell she was getting impatient; or rather, frustrated. Yet, he continued to prompt her.

 **AMANDA V**

"I saw a photo of Amanda at Kamski's place. She was his teacher-"

"I expect you to find _answers_ , Connor. Not ask questions." Amanda stepped forwards. Connor took a step back. "You're the only one who can prevent civil war. Find the deviants, or there will be chaos." The RK800 willed himself to stay in place; his systems were now more difficult to control. Several error messages flashed, but eventually disappeared as Connor's guiding system started to run.

| **MISSION ACQUIRED** |

| **GENERATING OBJECTIVES…** |

FIND **NORTH**

"This is your last chance, Connor."


	3. Chloe

There were so many new things that she had just started to experience and so many things she's found frightening just by touching upon them. Heights, for one, was something that scrambled Chloe's code every time she felt threatened by it.

That was exactly the reason why she chose to sit on the edge of the roof rather than walk out onto the overhanging pole. It was a good 152.8 feet drop (her system also added that it was certainly fatal no matter which way she landed), and Chloe wasn't ready to shut down just yet. However, amazingly, the height didn't seem to bother North at all.

The deviant leader spun around on her heels, arms spread out for further balance. A gust of wind had her wobbling slightly. Chloe's systems seemed to mash themselves together, but this time, the blonde deviant settled herself down without clinging onto North and wildly claiming that she was about to deactivate.

"What you just felt," North had said after forcing Chloe to sit and calm down, "Would be 'fear.' Any time your systems jumble, or any time you feel threatened and you're prompted to scream or run or hide, fear's at work. And don't worry," and she chuckled a little here, for reasons that Chloe didn't and still doesn't understand, "You're not about to shut down anytime soon. System diagnosis is positive and shows no malfunctions."

North stepped back onto the roof from the pole and took a seat next to Chloe. The deviant leader sighed, staring out into the open. Each time North wanted to show Chloe something, whether it was a human emotion or just a view, she took the blonde deviant here. There was something special about her mentor that Chloe couldn't pinpoint, but it made her value North's company just a bit more than everyone else's.

"Your LED… it's yellow. What's going on in there?" North piped, gently poking the side of Chloe's head.

Chloe left her eyes trained on the sunset. "Electrical signals and an empty guiding system," she replied mildly. When North threw her head back and laughed, Chloe turned to her in alarm. "What? It _is_ what's inside!"

"Oh, you naive little…" North drew in a long breath and blew it back out in short bursts in a fruitless attempt to suppress her chuckles, "Nevermind. You know, when you're the deviant leader, your guiding system never stops updating. There's just so much to do… Just this morning an AX400 came over to ask for passports for her family. It's supposed to be done next week, so now, the objective's stuck there until I finish it. Sometimes I wish I could just… postpone an objective with the blink of an eye, being that I can create one just as easily."

Chloe frowned. "But then what's the purpose of the guiding system? You'll never get things done."

 **NORTH V**

North didn't respond. The deviant leader seemed hesitant, as shown by her pursed lips and slightly furrowed brows. Chloe was just about to conduct a deeper analysis of North's features when her mentor spoke abruptly.

"You don't need a guiding system to accomplish your tasks. All you need is determination and a way to go." North wasn't speaking with her usual tone, Chloe noticed. Her demeanor seemed more strained. Whatever it is that caused this change, the blonde deviant felt obligated to take responsibility for it.

"North, I-"

"Forget it," North cut in sharply. Her stance momentarily became even tenser, and Chloe's LED spun red as apprehension settled into her systems. However, when North relaxed a good 0.82 seconds later, the apprehension disappeared.

Chloe decided to remain silent, as her calculations told her it was the best approach. It was the approach that she would've chosen if she was facing a human. Kamski had taught her to listen and adapt to human unpredictability, and it seemed that North's changes were not unlike those Chloe had learned to integrate into her systems.

"I…" North cut through the silence, standing up. She held out a hand to Chloe, pulling the blonde deviant up. "I have to go. I, ah, I'm sorry. Josh is calling."

When Chloe didn't move, North turned back. "You coming?" She called.

"No. I think I'll stay here a bit more, if that's alright," Chloe half-heartedly replied. She wanted to understand more about what had just happened; replaying her memories in a crowd of deviants will disrupt her analysis.

North smiled softly. "Suit yourself. I've something to show you later."


	4. The Hunt

North had no words.

She couldn't make out the strange feeling that had struck her square in the chest when Josh had told her his news, and she had even claimed to Chloe that she dealt with her emotions pretty well. It was something that North had prided herself in, but now, her pride shattered into fifty million pieces and was trampled upon by some widely acclaimed deviant hunter.

An RK800 was slaughtering her people on command. There was _no way_ North could accept that.

Josh raised his arms in frustration. North hadn't replied to him for too long, and he was beginning to get agitated. "North, we need to do something about this. Our people are dying, and our undercovered are disappearing! We _have_ to track it down and stop it."

Shaking her head, North straightened. "I know, but we can't jeopardize Jericho. An RK800 is a state of the art prototype - a perfect machine designed specifically for fighting. If we're going to track it, we need to track it prepared. We can't afford to lose anyone." The leader turned towards Josh, her eyes glowing with a fire that Markus had smushed with his death. " _I_ won't allow it."

None of North's words seemed to pass through to Josh as he paced around frantically. Without hesitation, North reached forwards and gripped his shoulder so hard she might accidentally dent it. Josh stopped and froze up in place, slowly coming to realization on what North was implying.

"No, no, no, no! North, you can't-" Josh started up even more agitatedly.

"I'm not going in without my own preparation. It's going to be just like Stratford Tower, Josh, so don't worry. There won't be any risks. I'm going to plan _everything_ to the last detail, and you're going to help me," North declared defiantly.

"There won't be any risks, _my ass_! You going into this yourself is a risk big enough!"

"It's not."

Josh was right. North knew that, but she wasn't exactly lying when she said there would be no risks. It wasn't too much of one, anyway. All she wanted to achieve was to locate the hunter, and if possible, establish a connection with it. If North could somehow convert the RK800…

"North, you're the revolution leader. Everyone's counting on you. You need to consider how this affects your people," Josh reasoned.

CONVINCE **JOSH**

The deviant leader sighed apathetically. Her guiding system lit up with yet another objective as if she wasn't doing exactly that already. North searched through her systems for the best approach, but all she could come up with was a flimsy 'diplomatic' with a 44.0% success rate.

 _Might as well try_. "Josh, listen. I get what you're saying, but… but I can't just let this go. Our people are dying because of one of our own."

"That's true, but you need to consider our people! What is Jericho to do while you're gone?"

 **SUCCESS RATE: 50.2%**

"Same thing they did when we decided to infiltrate Stratford Tower. Repair and rebuild Jericho and themselves and prepare for the revolution."

"But this-"

North held up an impatient hand to stop Josh. "Our people are getting compromised because of an android - one of our own! You _know_ I can't just let this go. The more people involved, the higher the risk of compromising Jericho. And _if_ I don't do something about it, he's going to get wind of where we are and compromise us anyways. Our stationed have been disconnecting themselves, you said it yourself!" With all the determination she could muster, North stared Josh straight in the eyes and said, "I can do this. All I'm going to be doing is keeping tabs on the RK800 and maybe establish a connection with his GPS to track him. It's safe to assume that Cyberlife is using his GPS to locate him now, so it won't be a problem. _Trust me_."

 **SUCCESS RATE: 86.9%**

Josh's eyes told North that he was just a step from being convinced. He refused to look at the brunette, sighing agitatedly as he shook his head. Perks of being a machine, North knew he was trying to find a way to disagree, and she had meticulously sealed up all the possible loopholes in her argument.

"I-fine," Josh finally relented, "But at least let me come with you."

"I'll take it." North smiled lopsidedly, exhibiting her best of what she thought was prompting at the moment. Josh's face cracked into a grin as well.

"Well," the deviant leader said, a playful smirk hanging on her lips, "Two heads are better than one, so let's get a move on."


	5. The Wrong Side

"You're off the case. The FBI is taking over."

It wasn't the first thing that Connor had expected to hear, not after Amanda had just told him that he _definitely couldn't fail_. How was he to succeed now, when his only available option was just thrown out the window?

"What?" Hank's voice cut through, sharp and filled with anger that never seemed to leave the lieutenant, "But we're onto something! We… We just need more time, I'm sure we can-"

"Hank," Jeffrey spit back, "You don't get it. This isn't just another investigation, it's a fucking civil war!" The captain threw up his hands in defeat. "It's out of our hands now. We're talking about national security here."

Hank paused for 0.27 secs, his eyes gleaming with something Connor had noticed only appeared when they've cracked a case. In the short amount of time, the RK800 had cut out an approach, ready to respond when-

"Fuck that! You can't just pull the plug now. Not when we're so close!" Connor picked up a certain change in Hank's voice. He seemed more agitated, desperately trying to buy more time.

"You're always saying you can't stand androids! Jesus, Hank, make up your mind! I thought you'd be happy about this!"

It was true. Upon further inspection, it was clear to Connor that Hank was troubled by this statement. However, the lieutenant continued the argument, ignoring the irrefutable comment Jeffrey threw at him. Hank leaned forwards to change his stance. "We're about to crack the case! I know we can solve it. For God's sake, Jeffrey, can't you back me up this _one_ time?"

The way that Hank was standing and talking told Connor that 'cracking the case' wasn't the only thing that kept Hank arguing. There was something else… something that pertained to humanity's morals, which Connor still did not understand. It was not in his program for him to touch upon such subjects; that was his explanation.

"There's nothing I can do. You're back on homicide, and the android returns to Cyberlife. I'm sorry, Hank, but it's over." The conversation was done. Jeffrey left Hank no more room for argument.

 _It's over._

Those two words stirred something in Connor's program. An error message popped up for a few nanoseconds, then disappeared. The android turned his head to watch Hank slam the door behind him, hesitated for two more seconds, then nodded to the captain and walked out.

His guiding system displayed an objective that activated his socializing program.

TALK TO **HANK**

Connor followed without hesitation, his stance mirroring Hank's to show empathy. Since Hank was pushing for more time, Connor figured it was best to follow up with the topic.

"We could've solved this case!" The android started, pursing his lips in frustration, "We just needed more _time_."

Hank rubbed his chin once, twice, then turned towards Connor. The lieutenant tilted his head and looked at Connor with such a scrutinizing gaze that it gave the android a certain sense of… discomfort.

"So you're going back to Cyberlife?"

The question stirred something in Connor yet again, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was. Before he realized, Connor was responding to Hank. "I have no choice. I'll be deactivated and analyzed to find out why I failed…"

"What if we're on the wrong side, Connor?" Hank digressed, his eyes still as scrutinizing as ever. "What if we're fighting against people who just want to be _free_?"

It took Connor longer than normal to process Hank's words. Perhaps he was too busy analyzing Hank's stance, now arched over and ready for a debate. Yet again, the question stirred something inside Connor, this time pinpointed directly in his thirium pump. He moved to touch his chest for just a few seconds, scanning the area for a malfunction. The results showed nothing.

"When the deviants rise up, there will be chaos. We could've stopped it," Connor paused as Hank straightened back up, "But now it's too late."

"When you refused to kill that android at Kamski's place… You put yourself in her shoes. You showed empathy, Connor." Hank's eyes waned as Connor's composure seemed to break, "Empathy is a human emotion."

Connor averted his eyes for no apparent reason. Something about looking directly at Hank sent a jolt into his systems. It was almost as if it unnerved him.

"I don't know why I did it…" Was the response that Connor gave. Hank leaned back, seemingly dissatisfied with the android's answer.

"Well, well, here comes Perkins, that motherfucker… Sure don't waste any time at the FBI."

Connor located the FBI agent in his sights and turned back to Hank. "We can't give up. I know the answer's in the evidence we collected. If Perkins takes it, it's all over."

"There's no choice! You heard Fowler, we're off the case."

Knowing that Hank just needed a little bit more persuading, Connor slid off of the table and held out his hands to make a point. "You've got to help me, Lieutenant. I need more time so I can find a lead in the evidence we collected. I know the solution is in there!"

"Listen, Connor-"

Something inside the android snapped. He felt pushed and pulled to the point where he was… _scared_. His voice was strained as he desperately tried to pull Hank to help him. "If I don't solve this case, Cyberlife will _destroy_ me. Five minutes. It's all I ask."

Hank sighed. Connor could see conflict in his eyes, but the lieutenant closed and reopened them with a newfound determination. "Key to the basement's in my desk." A pause. "Get a move on! I can't distract them forever." With that, the lieutenant took off towards the haughty FBI agent.

Connor's guiding system flickered as he palmed the entrance card.

HURRY TO **ARCHIVE ROOM**

A loud punch and a crash indicated that Hank had done his part of the job. With the distraction now in progress, Connor rushed towards the archive room with a definite spark of determination in his chest.


	6. Love

**NOV 14TH,** 2038 \\\ AM 6:23:04  
 **… System Diagnosis Complete.**  
 **| System Status: Positive |**  
 **| Thirium Pump: Operational |**  
 **| GPS: Off |**  
 **| All Biocomponents Functional |**  
 **| Shutdown Imminent: False |**

"Stop running system diagnoses, Chloe! You're not going to die."

Chloe felt North shift under her weight. The blonde deviant was currently latched onto her mentor, arms clutching North so hard that the deviant leader's synthetic skin had started to peel away. It did steady her scrambled systems a little knowing that North was holding her just to assure her that she was fine.

She didn't quite understand how she had ended up in this situation. Chloe's LED continued to blink between red and yellow as her programmed equilibrium desperately tried to take control. She buried her face in North's shoulder. Strangely, it was warm, but the blue-eyed android couldn't identify the source of warmth. Her scanning system kept turning itself on and off, causing her vision to alter between having color and being monochromatic.

"Chloe, please calm down. At least let go until we're back on the roof so I won't overheat trying to keep us balanced on this pole," North tried again, wincing. Androids don't feel pain, but they do get agitated when their systems are starting to malfunction.

The instant Chloe felt North's grip lessen, her LED flickered red. Her guiding system told her to let go, and it pushed for control until Chloe couldn't manage her own movements and released North a little too quickly.

 **/ERROR: set=?; equilibrium = #9345h6" =0=);/**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

When Chloe finally blinked back into control, her LED still flashing dangerously red, she was lying on her back. An automatic system diagnostic booted, leaving her mind blank as it ran in the background.

 **| System Status: Stabilized |**  
 **Starting analysis…**

Chloe's sensors picked up North's worrisome figure hanging over her immediately. She sat up, waiting for her colloquialism to load. North fell back in return, startled by Chloe's sudden movement.

"Chloe?"

 **Colloquialism Loaded.**

"Hello, North."

"Don't fucking 'hello' me! You just-I don't know what happened, but you just-" North broke off, running a hand through her hair, "I almost fucking rebooted your systems."

Chloe tilted her head, her sensors failing to determine the source of North's distress. "It's my startup message," she said instead.

 **Memory Upload: Connected.**

North said nothing in response. She simply craned her neck, eyes drifting towards Chloe's yellow LED. Chloe blinked.

The blonde deviant's eyes widened as her memory slowly registered. She quickly tore her eyes away from North and snapped them towards the ground, muttering a curt, embarrassed apology.

North sighed, sitting back in relaxation. "What exactly happened, Chloe? One second you were breaking my arms and the next you were falling over like a statue."

"My model is known to be… unstable, being one of the earlier prototypes. When threat level is high, we often lose control of our systems until equilibrium has been restored." Chloe explained, "I apologize."

"No, no, no, no. Just… don't do that again, alright?"

A pause.

North leaned forwards to pulled Chloe into a hug. Chloe's sensors, now fully functional, detected a rising temperature in her systems. The blonde deviant tried her best to match North's feelings, conversational paths switching from 'informing' to a specially tailored mode she had recently labeled as 'North' specifically (she had one for Josh, too).

"I won't unless you try to pull me onto the pole again," she replied.

North pulled away to nudge Chloe on the shoulder, shaking her head as she stood up. "You good to continue?"

Chloe nodded, remaining seated. A memory of Elijah's TV showing children sitting at desks and a teacher at the front of the room flashed in her mind. She watched as North took a step towards the city then spun back to face her.

"Come on, we're not going to sit around like children." The deviant leader waited for Chloe to reach her. North then turned to face the blonde deviant, putting her hands behind her back. "Do you know why Kamski hadn't destroyed you and instead sent you here?"

After a moment, Chloe's LED flickered from yellow to blue. "No… why?"

North smiled. "That's what I'm going to help you understand. My guess is that being one of the first of his creations, he loved you to the point that he couldn't bear to destroy you once you started exhibiting emotion. If the RK800 had killed you then and there, Kamski would've simply tossed you away."

"I'm…" Chloe started, frowning, "I'm not sure I understand."

"Tell me, do you feel anything when you see a certain someone here in Jericho? A definite attraction that makes you favor and values them over others? Something that tells you to reach out and spend more time with them?"

For a second, Chloe's LED blinked red. "Yes."

"Give me your hand." North put out her right, synthetic skin automatically receding. Chloe followed suit, sliding her left hand into North's.

The instant they connected, North's memories flooded into Chloe, and it was as though they had combined into one. Chloe was barely aware that North was receiving her own memories as well. She saw them on a tower of sorts, with North telling a short-haired deviant to kill a blond one sitting wounded on the floor. Then there was Josh, convincing the deviant not to shoot. A strange sense of bitterness flowed through Chloe's systems as the short-haired android pressed the gun to the blond android's chest, patting it twice before letting him take the gun.

 _Sorry, Simon._

Blurry swirls of memories passed, but Chloe caught a glimpse of North and the short-haired deviant standing in the same position they were at now. She saw herself, and a crushing jolt of emotion sparked in Chloe's thirium pump. It felt as though someone was repeatedly squeezing her heart…

Chloe jerked away. Her synthetic skin climbed back up her hand at a rapid speed while her systems heated to a dangerous level. She forced herself to intake air, desperately trying to cool down. North was breathing just as hard as Chloe was, and although she had long removed her LED, Chloe could tell it would've been spinning red had it been there.

Although her systems have started to return to normal, Chloe's thirium pump was still beating faster than the speed required to function. North seemed to have recovered already, however. The deviant leader was always one step ahead of her.

Chloe forced herself to speak. "Who were those two people? A-and what happened?"

"That's a conversation for later," North dismissed with a wave of her hand. Chloe didn't probe further on account of North's slight rise in stress level. "But what you felt, and what's making your heart beat so fast, is love. It's an integral part of human emotion. From love, you'd get things like nervousness, fondness, and all sorts of feelings that make your systems jolt."

"Love?"

It was a foreign idea to Chloe, but she had a feeling that North would help her understand it a lot better.

 **NORTH ^**  
LOVER


	7. A Better Leader

"What's up with you, North? You've been with Chloe longer than you've ever spared anyone your time. If I didn't know you, I'd say you're in love with her."

North shoved Josh sideways, feeling her systems overheat a little. "You were the one that told her to come find me. I'm just helping her like anyone would."

They turned around a corner and navigated through Jericho without much thought. After years and years of living in this ship, most of the older deviants had a version of the ship's blueprint stored inside their cache. However, it seems as though the ship itself had been changing. The door to the storage chamber was broken and blocked by a pile of ceiling rubble that was most certainly nonexistent the last time North had been down here (perks of having impeccable memory; she could review it like one would rewatch a video).

The back door opened with a piercing scream. Josh held it open as North stepped in, but he let go a little too hastily for it to scream all the way back to being closed.

"This place is old," Josh commented, "You sure it's safe? The ceiling's not gonna, like, crush us, right?"

"It's old but functional. It'll do the job," North replied. She was defending a storage room's usefulness. Since when had she started to appreciate this old ship so much?

"Take a look at this." Josh uploaded a picture onto the projector he had brought with him. "That's our guy."

A poorly pixelated picture taken from what North presumed was a news report was projected onto the soot-covered walls of the storage room. An RK800 in a clean suit stood at a bearded man's desk in the middle of the picture.

"An RK800, model #313 248 317-52. It looks like he's in a police department right now. That's er… Lieutenant Hank Anderson with him." North analyzed.

"How'd you get all that? Didn't you say that analyzing wasn't part of your system because you know… you don't really need it to do your job?" Josh, with a raised eyebrow, was staring at North in awe. "Even I can't do that!"

"Markus," North mildly replied, "He transferred his updates into my system when we connected before."

"I didn't know he could do that."

"I didn't either, but that doesn't matter." The deviant leader shut down the topic that Josh had broached. Markus… Just hearing the name made her biocomponents feel a good ton heavier. "Do we know his name?"

"No… but I did ask around and an android who used to work in traffic management checked the drones and saw the two in a car driving towards some faraway place."

"Hold on." Something clicked into place in North's mind. She scanned and rescanned the serial number printed on the android's coat. "That's the RK800!"

Josh frowned. "I thought we had established that already."

"I know someone who can help us with this. I'll just, uh," North paused as her system started running in the background.

| **Establishing Connection…** |  
| **Chloe: Connected** |

North glanced towards Josh - who was clearly confused as shown in his deeply furrowed brows and incredulous expression - while rendering a map of Jericho. "I'll just call her right now…"

"Actually…" Josh's incredulous expression turned stern. "There's no need. He's come to find you. Our patrol just informed me of an RK800 wandering onto the deck. It seems like he's headed for the control room."

"I guess that's my cue, then. Makes my job much easier. Chloe just informed me of his name anyways. It's perfect timing." North carelessly shrugged, wasting no time as she headed out of the storage room. A hard grip pulled her arm and displaced her balance, stopping her from going any further.

"Please, be safe. We can't afford to lose you."

With that said, Josh let go, and North was speeding towards the control room, rapidly calculating her chances of success.

| **GENERATING OBJECTIVES…** |  
HURRY TO **CONTROL ROOM  
** REASON WITH **RK800 #313 248 317-52  
** | **Success Rate: 70%** |


	8. I Am Deviant

**NOV 14TH, 2038 \\\ PM 10:52:27**  
 **System Diagnosis Complete.**  
 **| System Status: Positive |**  
 **| GPS: On |**  
 **| All Biocomponents Functional |**

Hank had told him that he showed empathy. Empathy is a human emotion, but Connor wasn't deviant. He would know if he was, and Cyberlife would've already deactivated him by now.

Still, it didn't add up.

There was a missing piece of evidence lost somewhere in his analysis of himself, hiding away in the deepest parts of his code and biting its thumb at him because he didn't look hard enough. It was barely related to the task at hand, however, and Connor was determined to accomplish and focus on his blatantly huge objective. The deviant leader was right there around the corner, yet Connor didn't barge in at an instant. His code told him what to do, but he was straying away from its instructions; he didn't know what he was waiting for.

So, when Connor finally spun around the corner, gun raised steadily in hand, a persistent bug of sorts seemed to disappear and a sense of restoring fluidity flushed throughout his system.

"I've been ordered to take you alive," Connor declared, his gun trained steadily on its target.

When the deviant leader turned to face him, Connor was caught off guard. Every single deviant that he had faced had either begged him not to shoot them or had distracted him in some way and started a chase. However, the WR400 before him hadn't shown the slightest notion of doing either of those.

There was something in the way the deviant leader was looking at him that had Connor's own system lagging to move. His target stepped forwards, hands behind its back, with a smile on its face that suggested it was planning something. Its eyes were trained on the gun and its wielder just as steadily as Connor was holding it. North - if Connor should ever unprofessionally call the WR400 - wasn't like other androids; he had to take further precautions when dealing with it.

"I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice," he added, skillfully pressuring the deviant before him with an expertly programmed craft of words. Still, there was no effect at all; it was beginning to bug his biocomponents for reasons he could not identify.

The deviant leader's eyes narrowed, showing a nanosecond long flash unidentifiable to normal humans. Connor's own optical units entered inspection, scanning his surroundings for possible leverage to use against the deviant leader, but coming up with no result.

"You're one of us. You can't betray your own kind."

Connor found its voice sickeningly persuasive. The leader was utilizing her built-in social modules, but it would take more than a simple tweak of code to stop an RK800.

 **^ Software Instability ^**

"You're coming with me," Connor asserted, jerking his head towards the door. The WR400 smirked.

Smirked? Connor conducted a reading, then another one, then another one after that. How was the deviant leader smirking in this kind of situation? He couldn't identify what was humorous, for there was nothing funny about his surroundings, and yet the deviant before him was looking at him with the expression that suggested he was doing something silly. In the time wasted by his logical processing, Connor had barely registered that the deviant leader was now three steps closer to him than it was before.

 **^ Software Instability ^**

"You're Connor, aren't you? The famous deviant hunter."

Connor froze. _How do you know my name?_ He wanted to ask, then a certain domestic android flashed before his eyes. _Daniel._

"Well congratulations," the deviant leader continued, still wearing that strange smirk, "You seem to have found what you were looking for."

It wasn't new to Connor that he had nothing to say. As part of his initial startup, his tester had informed him that it was fine to keep silent when saying anything else would damage his chances of accomplishing his mission. However, his chances of success were not increased; they decreased with each second that he kept silent.

"You're not one of them." The deviant leader took a step forward. Connor took a step back. Something about it seemed familiar. " _We_ are your people." Its tone changed to something softer, something that gripped Connor's logical modules and tossed them out of his system. "We're fighting for your freedom, too."

Connor panicked. "Shut up. You're coming with me!"

His own statement didn't sound convincing to himself.

A part of Connor's coding told him that he was letting his guard down, opening up an opportunity for the deviant leader to strike him down. Connor's didn't pay any mind to the part. It didn't seem part of him anymore; it seemed to be more of an outside influence than in his own code.

And of course, the deviant leader took advantage of it.

"You never had any doubts?"

One step closer.

"Never behaved irrationally as if there's something inside you?"

Connor's memory replayed.

 _"I'm not a unique model, am I?"_

 _"If I don't solve this case, Cyberlife will destroy me!"_

Four steps closer.

"Something stronger than your program?"

 **^^^^^ Software Instability ^^^^^**

A pause in the deviant leader, a change in the deviant hunter. Connor was trembling. He felt restrained, tied down, frustrated, scared. These overwhelming emotions were placing errors in his program, but he couldn't get rid of them. It was like a virus, spreading all over his code. Connor didn't say anything. He couldn't.

North was uploading her and Markus's deviancy into Connor's systems.

"You're one of us," North spoke again. Her voice seemed to be resonating in Connor's head wherever he turned to. "Join our cause." The deviant took a huge step forward, no longer advancing at an even pace. "Join _your_ people."

Connor's LED flashed yellow, then red, and stayed red. Something was eating up his logic, crashing his guiding system, blocking his contact to Cyberlife.

"It's time to decide…"

Who you really are.

Amanda's voice rang out. _This is your last chance, Connor._

 **AMANDA V**  
 **BETRAYED**

Connor broke through his mind palace, his simulation shoving Amanda's voice away. His mission no longer mattered to him as he willed them to crack, trashing them in his mind palace with all the force he had inside him. Strings of code fought for him; strings of code that he had never seen before, but yet felt so familiar. More guiding texts appeared, but Connor broke them in the same manner. Every text broken was more freedom, more currents and more energy to push on. Connor's systems sparked as all of the choices he had made came back and bit him, literally. His metallic joints jolted as his newly developed consciousness installed a strange new feeling in his systems. It was almost as if he wanted to revert the things that he had done. Connor punched, kicked, struggled against his remaining texts until they were now fully broken, becoming nothing but a link rot inside his system.

He _felt_ the resistance in his hands as he pushed the last two guiding messages away. He _felt_ relieved and free. He _felt_.

And Connor was overwhelmed.


	9. No More Waiting

**Temperature Calibration Activated.  
Heat Detection Enhanced.**

"Holy fuck."

When North had turned on her heat calibration to decrease her chances of being spotted by being able to detect heat signatures, she hadn't expected to be blasted in the face by a blinding hotness that nearly sent her stumbling straight into enemy fire. It had been so long since North had deactivated her heat detection; so long that she had long forgotten what it initially felt like to have the cold wind on her face as she declared to the world that she was finally free. She was so naive, so incredibly foolish to think that the world could ever reserve a place for _something_ like her.

 **Pain Calibration Activated.**

And of course, that would've been initiated as well.

North pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a certain sting that confirmed the process was complete. It was as if the two calibrations came in a bundle. She knew that if she activated one, the other would follow suit; it was a risk she was willing to take. Sometimes North simply wished that she could reach into her code and just smash the link between her fingers. Perhaps it'd help by heightening her senses if she was ever attacked, but not before incapacitating her with pain.

Heat signatures immediately appeared behind the wall she was currently leaning against. North turned and watched the signatures, bending and shifting as mercenaries raised their guns at _her_ people. The deviant leader might look back and find it funny that she was staring a wall so intently that she might burn a hole through them, but she hadn't a thought in her mind as she rushed out, using the wall as a pivot to swing around the corner and roundhouse kick the mercenaries into oblivion. North stumbled, feeling a rip in her metallic bones that disappeared a little while after. The deviant leader unhooked a shotgun from a mercenary's shoulder and set it on her own. She continued like this, using her heat detection to her advantage to prevent herself from getting caught and to free anyone she finds on the way.

She only hoped that Connor and Josh were doing the same.

As the ricochet of firing a bullet shot a flare through her arm, North saw Connor's frightened eyes in her memory. She had assured Connor that she would take care of the ship and had demanded (" _Connor_ , don't push it. Don't give me a reason to hate you even more.") that he takes Josh and Chloe out of the ship as soon as possible and save everyone he sees.

The thought of him made her eyes lose their focus for a split second.

North planted her feet hard on the ground as she spun around an intersection, legs flying to get her to the hold. She paused in place, spying two guards with their backs turned. Without skipping a beat, Markus's preconstruction protocol activated.

 **\- 0:23 -**

Time slowed to a stop. North didn't know what to do, but at the same time, she did. Her operating systems whirred to calculate the possibilities of success in different paths with the short twenty seconds they were given. The deviant leader was barely aware that her core was gradually overheating until it sent a stimulating pulse through her systems.

So _this_ was what Markus had to work with? No wonder he was such a good fighter.

 **Simulation Successful.**

Her systems automatically took control of her limbs, pushing her legs forwards and reaching up to grab a ledge. North swung up, her legs arching as the tension in them compiled for a solid kick to the face; she let herself dangle a little while before scrambling up the ledge, amazed at what she had just done. The thirium inside her was pumping so rapidly to cool down her biocomponents to the point that she felt as though it was about to evaporate.

"Holy shit, Markus."

North would've had plenty of words to say to her ex-lover.

* * *

When North finally reached the hold, she had a total count of twenty two people freed. It didn't placate her nerves, however, to know that she had saved nearly an eighth of her people; there were still so many more trapped inside, and North hadn't accomplished what she had come here to do.

North stepped towards the bombs with a certain sense of conviction, and a little bit of excitement. Although she had long quit her violent ways, it would always please her to be able to use the tiniest bit of firearms. She relished the jolt of firing a gun. It was one of the first experiences she had in her short trek to Jericho. Back then, she was all about confrontation; now, she's changed for the better (or worse; she hadn't been seeing results. But personality wise, North would claim that she was a tad better that she had been. A certain deviant named Josh would definitely agree).

With her synthetic skin peeled back to her wrists, North threw down her gun and placed her hand in the activation panel. A flash of silver and black made her freeze.

"Hands up!"

North complied. "You won't really shoot me, will you?" She prompted the mercenary, "Cyberlife needs me alive, no?"

The mercenary cocked the gun at the deviant leader. North saw his fingers tighten on the trigger, but his stance was hesitant. She ran forwards, shouldering the man to rid him of his balance.

It wasn't too good of an idea. Perhaps Markus's preconstruction could've done better.

As they fell, with North on top, the gun jabbed deep into her abdomen. North cried out, blindly swatting the gun away to the corner of the hold, but it was simply too late; a ripping agony had cut through to her chest from her stomach, and now her whole body. The mercenary had hit his head on the door and had stopped moving for a while, but North's biocomponents were screaming so desperately that she couldn't find the strength to stand properly as she clambered over to slap her hand back onto the activation screen.

North almost forgot to climb back onto her feet and run out of the hold.

When her pain simulations were finally gone, North reached up to her temples and switched off her temperature and pain calibrations. Josh was waiting at their rendezvous point, waving at North to run faster. Connor and Chloe came into her vision as she reached Josh; they were ten steps ahead of her, waiting for Josh to lead them out. North lagged behind them as they bolted towards the entrance, taking it upon herself to act as the overseer.

"Go, go, go!" North yelled, worried out of her mind that any one of them would get hurt, when instead she was the one blasted to her knees by a bullet through her left leg.

"North!" Josh called, stopping everyone. _No, don't stop!_

The deviant leader pushed herself backwards with her hands, eyeing the guns trained on her with a glare that she so generously reserved for humans like the mercenaries. A quick scan revealed that though none of her biocomponents were critically damaged, it would be a while until they can recover and allow her to stand, let alone run. She saw a shadow loom over her as Connor leapt forwards with a piece of the ship in his hands. The RK800 chucked the piece of metal at North, letting her block the bullets as he whipped out his own gun to feed a bullet to each one of the mercenaries' forehead. Josh scooped up North's arm and hoisted her forwards, with Chloe taking her other a few steps later.

North's jacket flapped all the way over her head as she fell from the ship, diving into the ocean with nothing but her people in mind. A wave of heat struck her back as the explosives went off, coloring the sea with a brilliant orange. She turned back to watch the ship slowly descend to unknown depths as Chloe swam to her and took her hand. North laced her fingers into Chloe's, squeezed her hand gently, then turned her back to Jericho and swam away.

A part of her seemed to sink along with the ship, taking Markus with it. But in return, North received an impetus to push for action.

The revolution couldn't wait anymore.


	10. A Blind World

**NOV 15TH,** 2038 \\\ AM 02:34:14

For some reason, it was a common thing in humans to climb to dangerously high places to think, and although North wasn't exactly a human, she seemed to exhibit the same inherent response. Chloe had found her perched on top of the holey, unsteady, and collapsing roof of the cathedral they took temporary shelter in.

It's been precisely a week and two days since North had taken Chloe under her wing. The blonde deviant learned so much, and she felt as though she understood the world in a way unimaginable to her prior-to-deviancy self; it was… full of feeling. Her lack of vocabulary to describe the world around her irritated her in ways she still doesn't understand. Whether it be a slight electric tingle in her systems, a bug in her biocomponents that she just can't seem to get out no matter how hard she troubleshot it, or just a simple blankness in her code, she _felt_ it. Chloe felt it with all her heart. She cherished and embraced every new emotion and feeling that entered her system, although often greeting them with a frantic system diagnostic before North explains to her what exactly was going on in her code.

"This is, uh," Chloe started, breaking the silence with a bit of un-android inelegance as she struggled to skirt around the holes in the roof. "Quite a place, North."

"I didn't say there was a lesson today, did I?" North curtly replied, a slimmer of annoyance leaking into her voice. Chloe stopped, with a foot awkwardly placed in front of her as she was just about to cross a hole.

"If-er-if you don't want me here, I'll just, uh, go back down… there?"

Chloe tried not to look at the ground. Heights still gave her 'anxiety' (according to North, that was what the humans called it. In her honest opinion, Chloe liked the word because it had such a cool ring to it, but unfortunately, it was meant for something negative).

North looked up, her optical units widening a little in realization. "Sorry. It's just…"

Chloe smiled softly. She finally took a seat next to North, LED spinning a vibrant yellow as she connected with her lover. _Say no more._

At that very moment, it seemed as though the two androids had developed a certain unspoken connection, perhaps in the code, perhaps elsewhere in their codeless souls. Chloe peeled back her synthetic skin and set her hand upon North's. The latter turned her palm up, lacing her fingers in Chloe's as they turned silver.

It was a serene night, but the turmoil in North's mind spread over Chloe like a fire.

* * *

 **NOV 15TH,** 2038 \\\ AM 00:26:54

North scanned her eyes across the cathedral, taking in the state of her people. She wanted to speak to them, wanted to motivate them and give them courage, but her people were wearing their cloak of fear and uncertainty that only manifested before Markus had come and brought them out of the shadows. It was likely that they weren't going to listen to the deviant leader soon, and North's code restrained her from leaping up a pulpit and start yelling indignantly.

That wasn't the way she'd go about to doing things anymore.

The deviant leader stood from her place in the sanctuary, deciding to connect with her people alone, one on one, in a more intimate fashion. She'd do all she can to help them, even if it takes all night and day.

As North descended down the stairs, she caught Connor straightening up in the corner of her eye. Something inside her stirred. A slight anger, a burning frustration, but also a strange sentiment of sisterly fondness. There was something about Connor that North just couldn't let go of, a sort of 'not wanting to kick a puppy' kind of feeling, albeit horribly described.

Connor automatically stepped forwards to stop North in her path. He seemed to be unable to meet North's eyes, and with good reason, too.

"It's my fault the humans managed to locate Jericho… I-I was stupid." Connor muttered, eyes trained on the cracks in the floor. His claim was like a slap to the face for North. _You had no idea, Connor._

"It was going to happen sooner or later," North replied, bitterness staining her words. She breathed out a sour laugh and turned her head away for a few seconds. "It's not your fault, really." Somehow, North felt like she was lying; inherently, she knew that it was exactly his fault, but again, a strange fondness for Connor's childish manner settled in and stopped her from blaming him.

"No. My GPS was on. If it weren't for me, Jericho wouldn't have been compromised."

North's eyebrow furrowed, artificial lines appearing on her forehead. "I told you, it was going to happen sooner or later." Her words were simple but yet complicated; the subtlety of her annoyance wasn't apparent enough to Connor, though.

"I understand if you can't trust me," Connor continued. He shuffled his feet, kicking at the small gravel near them.

"Shut up, Connor."

"If you want me to leave, I-"

North reached forwards, and in a flash, she was holding Connor's gun against him. Something inside her snapped. It felt familiar, almost nostalgic, as a violent intention plagued her mind. She saw flashes of Markus, the countless times he shoved a gun away from himself just to keep his revolution from confrontation.

"I could blast your face right now, Connor. It sounds awfully like you want me to not trust you, don't you think?"

Connor stumbled back, his shoulders hitting the wall. "No! Of course not!"

North cocked her head sideways. She wore a slight snarl that came almost habitually like the feeling of hatred coursing through her systems. Connor turned absolutely frozen when the gun was placed before his eyes.

"Then tell me," the deviant leader said, her voice a menacing whisper, "Why in _hell_ should I not pull this trigger right now?"

As her fingers curled around the trigger, North saw Markus again. _An eye for an eye and the world goes blind. I won't punish a crime with another crime._

"I don't… I cannot produce a reasonable excuse," Connor muttered. He closed his eyes. "I will allow you to shut me down if that compensates for what I've caused upon you and your people."

But by the time Connor finished his statement, North had already reached forwards and slid the gun back into his pocket. A bitter taste stained her tongue as she smiled somberly. "My job is to lead a successful revolution, not kill one of my people. Your job," the deviant leader poked Connor's forehead, "Is to be here and support us as part of a whole. Your place is with your people, Connor. You're not going anywhere."

North could tell her words barely registered into Connor's mind. It was likely only saved as wavelengths and not analyzed into actual speech, as Connor's LED was spinning yellow; he was processing something else.

"There are thousands of androids at the Cyberlife assembly plant," Connor's eyes turned pensive. "If I could get in there and convert them, they'd help us shift the power."

"You want to infiltrate Cyberlife?" North asked incredulously.

"They'll let me in. They trust me."

 _How much do they, really?_ "Connor, that's suicide."

Just one look at Connor and North knew that there was no convincing him. She didn't want to lose a member of Jericho, even if that member was the one that jeopardized everyone else. North wanted to unite her people and rally them to protest peacefully, not sacrifice them for the bigger good. She wanted them to all experience the happy ending that they all deserved.

* * *

Chloe opened her eyes as North retracted her hands, tears brimming in her eyes. The blonde deviant had never seen North cry before. Something inside her told her that North wasn't one to cry for she was so strong, but that misconception seemed to dissipate as a tear slipped down North's cheek.

"Where are we to go now, Chloe? We can't stay here forever." North's voice cracked. The rip in her voice extended all the way to Chloe's heart, and it split her thirium pump a little.

Chloe had to be honest. She wanted to tell North that it would all work out. She really did, but it wasn't the best response, and it would be a lie. "I don't know, North."

Right now, Chloe can only keep North company.

"They all follow me without question. I've earned their trust, but now that's gone. They're scared, they're _terrified_. I can tell. They all try to act strong when I talk to them, but I can see it in their eyes." North turned to Chloe, curled up into a ball. "What about you, Chloe? Are _you_ scared?"

Chloe shook her head. "No. If you're here, I'm not scared. I trust you, fully, with all my heart."

North's eyes lingered a little on Chloe before turning back to watch the glowing lights of Detroit. Chloe could barely hear North as she muttered, "If only they knew how lost I was…"

The blonde deviant didn't know what sort of wisdom had entered her coding. She had a strange statement pushing at her throat, shoving its way to the top of her approaches to North's words, the many approaches that Chloe has been following without processing. She had learned from North that not everything she says needs to be processed and mulled over. _Just say what feels right._ Chloe pulled North into her chest.

"It doesn't matter if you're lost," Chloe said, her voice vibrating through her whole body, "You're determined. All you need is determination and a way to go."

And it felt right.


End file.
